There are some subjects in life that are very serious subjects and you never know the impact that they have on people because we are all wired differently. One of those subjects that is tough to deal with is the topic of divorce which is very commonplace today. Today’s film A.C.O.D. (Adult Children Of Divorce) deals with the subject matter, but in a different way. Carter (Adam Scott) has been dealing with life in his very own way. Carter is a child of a very ugly divorce who has constantly been in the middle. Fats forward and he is an adult who hears that his brother Trey (Clark Duke) is getting married and he wants his parents to attend even though they hate each other. Carter has to figure out how to get them together in one room, but when he does and he finds out that they’ve hooked back up as a result, his life begins to spin out of control. The film also stars Richard Jenkins (Step Brothers) as Hugh, Catherine O’Hara (Home Alone) as Melissa, Amy Poehler (Sisters) as Sondra, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane) as Lauren, Ken Howard (The Judge) as Gary, Valerie Tian (Juno) as Kieko, Jessica Alba (Fantastic Four) as Michelle, Jane Lynch (40 Year Old Virgin) as Dr. Judith, and the film was directed by Stu Zicherman (The Americans).
To say the least, this was a very interesting and entertaining film to watch for today. I had actually been putting this one off for a while now and due to some unforeseen circumstances decided to finally see it. I have been becoming a huge fan of Adam Scott, I can definitely appreciate his style of acting and what he brings to the table. It was cool to see him work with some of his familiar co-stars like Richard Jenkins (on Step Brothers) and Clark Duke (on Hot Tub Time Machine 2) because you can see that they possess a chemistry that is established. Jane Lynch is absolutely amazing in the film and very important to the plot. You see Carter discovers that all the years of therapy he thought he was getting was just research for a book that Lynch’s character writes. She then explains to him that she is writing a sequel to the book and that she has called it A.C.O.D. (Adult Children Of Divorce). It’s because of that and the fact that his parents have hooked up again that has thrown his life into chaos. There was just too much to write to put it above so now you have the rest of it. The film is listed as a comedy, but I call it a smart persons comedy cause it’s not a stupid comedy. That is why I enjoyed the film and loved seeing Jessica Alba (loved her look in the film) and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade. It’s available on Netflix right now.
When Cloverfield came out in 2008, I thought it was one of the coolest films that year. Even though it was a found footage film, it was definitely different and the aliens were cool looking. Fast forward 8 years later and now we have 10 Cloverfield Lane which supposedly takes place around the same time as the first film. Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is running away from something in the big city when she gets into a car accident in the country side. When she wakes up, she discovers that she is being held inside a bomb shelter by a man named Howard (John Goodman). She is being told that the outside world is gone and that everybody is dead, but there is something about Howard that bothers her. Along with the other captive Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.), they’ll try their best to figure out a way out of there before Howard expects anything. The film also stars Douglas M. Griffin (Dallas Buyers Club) as Driver, Suzanne Cryer (Two Guys, A Girl And A Pizza Place) as the woman, Bradley Cooper (Guardians Of The Galaxy) as Ben, Sumalee Montano (Transformers Prime) as Voice on Radio, and the film was directed by Dan Trachtenberg.
I did not realize that Bradley Cooper was the voice of Ben in this film which came as an absolute shock to me. That is cool of him to do this for J.J. Abrams and company, but it’s not the most important detail of the film. What is important is the fact that John Goodman was absolutely masterful as a paranoid doomsdayer (if that is what you call them). When have you ever seen a film with John Goodman that you can say was never good? I can’t think of many that did suck, but Goodman was the true highlight of the film. I love Mary Elizabeth Winstead so I was happy to see her in the film, but I have to be honest. If it wasn’t for the last 20 minutes of the movie and John Goodman, you are looking at a C player here as far as the film goes. It drags for a little while and it takes a while to build up any good momentum, but once you get to the last 20 minutes or so it gets really good. One thing I can say about this film is that I enjoyed it a heck of a lot more than I did The Witch. I have to be honest, I didn’t know who John Gallagher Jr. was before the film, but he also does a great job. It was essentially a small cast, but they were all A+ players in my book. One thing is for sure, after watching this I am actually hoping for another film. It’s only bound to get a heck of a lot better as long as we get some good writers. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade. Check it out in theaters everywhere right now!!!
365moviesin365dayschallenge 